The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the Company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and in doing so incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two chairmen leaving the company. Early on, mineral traffic became dominant and brought in much more revenue than the passenger services.